Soybean variety XB37ZA

ABSTRACT

Soybean variety XB37ZA is a high-performance soybean variety which also provides a low palmitic, low-saturate specialty soybean oil.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/180,822, filed Jan. 10, 1994, now abandoned.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is in the field of plant breeding, specifically soybean breeding.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The soybean is a commercially very important plant which has an extraordinary number and variety of uses. It is used as a source of both food for domestic animals and human beings, and as a source of oil, which itself has many important uses. The soybean cake or meal, that remains after processing the beans for oil, is a high-protein foodstuff used extensively in livestock and poultry rations. It is an excellent protein with respect to most of the essential amino acids and also a good source of vitamins of the B-complex. The botanical name for the soybean is Glycine max, the genus to which the variety belongs being identified by the first Latin word and the species to which it belongs by the second Latin word.

The soybean is an annual summer legume, and is, like other members of the botanical family Leguminosae such as peas and beans, characterized by having pods each of which (in the case of the soybean) has from 2 to 4 round or oval seeds (beans). Soybeans are classified as simple fruits since they are derived from a single ovary, and can be reproduced from single seeds contained within a pod of the plant. Classification structure and nature of legumes is described by Robbins et al., Botany: An Introduction to Plant Science, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (1950).

The soybean is an erect, branching plant, with trifoliate leaves borne one to a node, resembling in its early growth the ordinary field bean. It grows to a height ranging from 2 ft. to 31/2 ft. or more. Nearly all varieties are pubescent; that is, the stems, leaves and pods of the plant are covered with short, fine, brown or gray hairs. The mature pods range in color from very light tan to shades of gray, brown and black, and the seeds themselves may be colored in shades of yellow, green, brown or black, or may be speckled. The seeds have an oil content ranging from 15% to 25%, and a protein content ranging from 30% to 50%.

There are a number of ways in which soybeans may be classified, including by color, plant type, plant habit, and seed characteristics.

Color: Soybeans have leaves which range in color from light green to dark green; the pod color may range anywhere from light tan to black, as aforesaid; and the seed coat color may range from yellow to black. Finally, the pubescence color may be either gray or brown.

Plant Type: Soybeans may also be classified as slender, bushy or intermediate.

Plant Habit: Soybeans may be classified, as regards habit, as being determinate or indeterminate.

Seed Characteristics: The seeds of soybeans may be characterized according to shape--whether they are spherical or elongate--and according to size; and also according to whether they are wrinkled or smooth.

A mature soybean plant comprises roots, stems, petioles, leaflets, pods and seeds. Prior to maturity a soybean plant has small inconspicuous flowers, which may be either white or purple.

DEFINITIONS

As used in this disclosure the following terms have the following meanings:

HABIT: The physical appearance of a plant. It can be either determinate or indeterminate. In soybeans indeterminate varieties are those in which stem growth is not limited by formation of a reproductive structure (i.e., flowers, pods and seeds) and hence growth continues. The main stem will develop and set pods over a prolonged period under favorable conditions.

POD: Is the fruit of a soybean plant. It consists of the hull or shell and the soybean seeds.

LEAFLETS: Are part of the plant shoot, and they manufacture food for the plant by the process of photosynthesis.

SHOOTS: A portion of the body of the plant. They consist of stems, petioles and leaves.

HILUM: The scar left on the seed which marks the place where the seed was attached to the pod prior to it (the seed) being harvested.

COTYLEDON: A seed leaf; a small leaf contained on a plant embryos. The cotyledon contains the food storage tissues of the seed. The embryo is the small plant contained within a mature seed.

PUBESCENCE: A coveting of very fine hairs closely arranged on the leaves, stems and pods of the soybean plant.

HYPOCOTYL: That portion of an embryo or seedling between the cotyledons and the radicle or young root.

PLANT HEIGHT: Is the distance from the surface of the soil in which the plant is growing to the top of the plant at maturity.

PHYTOPHTHORA: A fungus which causes root rot of soybeans, as well as other plant diseases.

MATURITY GROUP: An agreed-on industry break out of groups of varieties, based on the zones in which they are adapted primarily according to day length or latitude. They consist of very long day length varieties (Groups 000, 00, 0), and extend to very short day length varieties (Groups VII, VIII, IX, X).

MATURITY: That stage in development of the soybean plant when its physiological development is complete. The period from the beginning of growth until maturity is reached is measured in days, usually in comparison to one or more standard varieties. This trait is normally determined as the time when 95 percent of the plant's pods are fully mature.

F₃ : Denotes a generation resulting from the selfing of the F₂ generation along with selection for type and rogueing of off-types. The "F" number is a term commonly used in genetics, and designates the number of the filial generation. The "F₃ " generation denotes the offspring resulting from the selfing or self mating of members of the generation having the next lower "F" number, viz. the F₂ generation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This soybean variety was developed from the cross between C1726 and A1937NMU-173, where C1726 is a Purdue University mutant germplasm line with 7% palmitic content and A1937NMU-173 is an Iowa State University mutant line with 6% palmitic content. It is an F₃ -derived variety which was First grown in yield trials in 1991 by Iowa State University.

Subsequently, this variety has undergone one additional year of extensive evaluation by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., Des Moines, Iowa 50309 (Pioneer) for agronomic traits, wide area adaptability, and fatty acid composition. 0.05 acres of increase seed were grown in Chile during the winter of 1991-92 by Pioneer. A 1.4 acres of parent seed stock (foundation seed equivalent) were grown in Iowa in 1992, followed by a 10 acre increase in Chile during the winter of 1992-93. Pioneer, which plans to sell the variety to the public in 1994, has given this variety the denomination "XB37ZA". XB37ZA has been observed by the breeders to be uniform and stable for all plant traits from generation to generation, with no evidence of variants.

Variety XB37ZA can be produced from seed thereof by the conventional methods well known in the art for producing and harvesting soybeans. Soybean is highly self-pollinated and no special procedures with regard to pollination are necessary. The seed is planted and grown under conventional conditions. Seed from every plant which produces seed can be harvested.

Soybean variety XB37ZA is most similar to variety 9381. Both varieties have tawny pubescence and yellow seeds. However XB37ZA has purple flowers, black, brown and yellow hila, brown and tan pods, and at most about 4% palmitic acid content in its seeds, whereas 9381 has white flowers, black hila, brown pods, and 10% palmitic acid content in its seeds, representing a substantial decrease in palmitic acid content for XB37ZA. Thus, this variety is a low-palmitic/low-saturates specialty oil variety which can be crushed to provide a low palmitic soybean oil having less than 5% palmitic acid content and less than 8% total saturates, while conventional commodity soybean oil has over 10%, and typically up to 11%, palmitic acid content and 15% total saturates. Such low-saturate/low palmitic oil is highly preferred for its commensurate low temperature storage and pouring properties and potential for food products having lower saturated fat content and thus provides the grower an opportunity to realize a price premium over conventional commodity soybeans. This benefit is provided in a germplasm background in which the variety as a whole presents no "production drag" by virtue of the presence of the specialty trait, i.e., its agronomic performance is comparable to other commercial varieties grown in its region of adaptation, which is primarily Iowa, and especially Northern Iowa. As a result, the financial premium this variety offers is real, since the higher price obtained for the grain is generally not offset by a reduction in yield. It has very clean leaves and its seeds are higher in protein. Finally, its lodging tendency means that it can be grown to best advantage on lower productivity soils, offering an additional benefit to the grower in terms of optimizing his production.

These and other objective characteristics of variety XB37ZA are set forth in the following table:

SEED SHAPE: spherical flattened.

SEED COAT LUSTER AND COLOR: dull yellow

SEED SIZE: 19 grams per 100 seeds

HILA COLOR: 56% black, 43% brown.

COTYLEDON COLOR FOR THE MATURE SEED: yellow.

SEED PEROXIDASE ACTIVITY: HIGH

SEED PROTEIN ELECTROPHORETIC BANDS: Not tested.

HYPOCOTYL COLOR: light purple (same as varieties Beeson and Pickett 71 )

LEAFLET SIZE AND SHAPE: medium ovate

LEAF COLOR: dark green (similar to the public varieties Gnome and Tracy).

FLOWER COLOR: purple

POD COLOR: brown

PLANT PUBESCENCE COLOR: brown or tawny

PLANT TYPE: INTERMEDIATE between slender and bushy

PLANT HABIT: indeterminate

MATURITY GROUP: Group III

DISEASE REACTIONS:

PHYTOPHTHORA ROT RACES 12, 16, 19, 20, and 25--susceptible

PHYTOPHTHORA ROT RACES 10, 13, 17, and 21--resistant

PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES

METRIBUZIN RESISTANCE--resistant

INSECT REACTION RESPONSES

Not tested

Certain characteristics of variety XB37ZA have been compared with the characteristics of the variety 9381 as set forth in the following table:

    ______________________________________                                                        XB37ZA   9381                                                   ______________________________________                                         Days to Maturity 134        134                                                Lodging Score    2.6        1.9                                                Plant Height     89 cm      93 cm                                              Seed Protein Content                                                                            42.6%      40.8% protein                                      Oil Content      19.4%      21%                                                Seed Size        19.4 grams 21.0 grams                                         Fatty Acid profile:                                                            Palmitic (16:0)  3.8%       10.1                                               Stearic (18:0)   3.3        4.0                                                Oleic (18:1)     29.2       23.0                                               Linoleic (18:2)  54.3       54.2                                               Linolenic        9.5        8.6                                                ______________________________________                                    

Fatty Acid Values in the table are expressed as percent fatty acid composition of the oil in the seeds, as determined by gas-liquid chromatography on oil extracts from the seeds.

Tissue Culture and Regeneration

Tissue culture of various tissues of soybeans and regeneration of plants therefrom is well known and widely published. For example, reference may be had to Lazzeri, P. et al., "A Procedure for Plant Regeneration from Immature Cotyledon Tissue of Soybean", Plant Molecular Biology Reporter, 3(4), 160 (1985); Ranch, J. P. et al., "Plant Regeneration from Embryo-Derived Tissue Cultures of Soybeans," In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology, 21(11):653-658 (1985); Barwale, U. B., et al., "Plant regeneration from callus cultures of several soybean genotypes via embryogenesis and organogenesis," Planta (1986) 167:473-481; Ranch, J. P. et al., "Plant Regeneration from Tissue Cultures of Soybean by Somatic Embryogenesis", in Cell Culture and Somatic Cell Genetics of Plants, Vol. 3, Chapt. 4 (Academic Press, 1986); Wright, M. S., et al., "Plant regeneration by organogenesis in Glycine max," Plant Cell Reports (1986) 5:150-154; Hammatt, N. et at., "Somatic Embryogenesis and Plant Regeneration from Cultured Zygotic Embryos of Soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.)," J. Plant Physiol. 128:219-226 (1987); Lazzeri, P. A. et al., "Soybean somatic embryogenesis: Effects of hormones and culture manipulations," Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture, 10:197-208 (1987); Lazzeri, P. A. et al., "Soybean somatic embryogenesis: Effects of nutritional, physical and chemical factors," Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture, 10:221-226 (1987); Finer, J. et al., "Development of an embryogenie suspension culture of soybean (Glycine max Merrill)," Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture, 15:125-136 (1988); Finer, J., "Apical proliferation of embryogenic tissue of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill]," Plant Cell Reports (1988) 7:238-241; Hartweck, L. M. et al., "Auxin-Orientation Effects on Somatic Embryogenesis from Immature Soybean Cotyledons," In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology, 24(8):821-828 (1988); Hepher, A. et al., "Development of a Superficial Meristem During Somatic Embryogenesis from Immature Cotyledons of Soybean (Glycine max L.)," Annals of Botany 62:513-519 (1988); Komatsuda, T. et al., "Genotypes of high competence for somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration in soybean Glycine max," Theor. Appl. Genet.; (1988) 75:695-700; Lazzeri, P. A., "Soybean somatic embryogenesis: interactions between sucrose and auxin," Plant Cell Reports (1988) 7:517-520; Parrott, W. A. et al., "Optimization of Somatic Embryogenesis and Embryo Germination in Soybean," In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology, 24(8):817-820 (1988); Buchheim, J. A. et at., "Maturation of Soybean Somatic Embryos and the Transition to Plantlet Growth," Plant Physiol. (1989) 89, 768-775; Christou, P. et al., "Developmental Aspects of Soybean (Glycine max) Somatic Embryogenesis," Annals of Botany, 64, 225-234 (1989); Parrott, W. A. et al., "Effect of genotype on somatic embryogenesis from immature cotyledons of soybean," Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture 16:15-21 (1989); Kim, J. et al., "Plant Regeneration In Vitro from Primary Leaf Nodes of Soybean (Glycine max) Seedlings," J. Plant Physiol., 136:664-669 (1990); Komatsuda, T. et al., "Screening of Soybean [Glycine max (L.) MERRILL] Genotypes for Somatic Embryo Production from Immature Embryo," Japan J. Breed. 49:249-251 (1990); Spehar, C. R. et al., "Clonal propagation of F₁ hybrids as a tool in genetic studies of the soya bean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill]," Euphytica, 47:21-23 (1990); Komatsuda, T. et al., "Genotype×Sucrose Interactions for Somatic Embryogenesis in Soybean," Crop Sci. 31:333-337 (1991); Stephens, P. A. et at., "Agronomic evaluation of tissue-culture-derived soybean plants," Theor. Appl, Genet. (1991) 82:633-635; Komatsuda, T. et al., "Maturation and germination of somatic embryos as affected by sucrose and plant growth regulators in soybeans Glycine gracilis Skvortz and Glycine max (L.) Merr.," Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture, 28:103-113 (1992); Dhir, S. et al., "Regeneration of fertile plants from protoplasts of soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.): genotypic differences in culture response," Plant Cell Reports (1992) 11:285-289; Pandey, P. et at., "Plant Regeneration from Led and Hypocotyl Explants of Glycine wightii (W. and A.) VERDC. var longicauda," Japan J. Breed. 42:1-5 (1992); and Shetty, K., et al., "Stimulation of in vitro shoot organogenesis in Glycine max (Merrill.) by allanloin and amides," Plant Science 81:(1992) 245-251; as well as U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,944, issued Jun. 18, 1991 to Collins et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,200, issued Apr. 16, 1991 to Ranch et al., the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein in their entirety by reference. Whole fertile plants of XB37ZA can be readily regenerated from such tissue culture and a high percentage of such plants will also have the XB37ZA genotype and will produce true-breeding seed of the XB37ZA variety.

Deposits

A viable deposit of the soybean seed of this invention is maintained by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., 700 Capital Square, 400 Locust Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50309 as well as at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, on behalf of the Iowa State University Research Foundation. Access to this deposit will be available during the pendency of this application to persons determined by the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks to be entitled thereto under 37 CFR 1.14 and 35 USC 122. Upon the grant of the present patent, Applicants will make available to the public without restriction a viable deposit of at least 2500 seeds of soybean variety XB37ZA with the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), Rockville, Md. 20852, U.S.A., ATCC Deposit No. 97416. Such deposit was made under the Budapest Treaty in the ATCC on Jan. 16, 1996. The seeds deposited with the ATCC have been taken from the same deposit maintained by Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, since prior to the filing date of this application. The deposit will be maintained at the ATCC Depository, which is a public depository, for a period of 30 years, or five years after the most recent request, or for the enforceable life of the patent, whichever is longer, and will be replaced if it becomes nonviable during that period. 

What is claimed is:
 1. Seed of the soybean variety designated as XB37ZA, deposited as ATCC Deposit No.
 97416. 2. A plant produced by a seed of the soybean variety designated as XB37ZA, deposited as ATCC Deposit No.
 97416. 3. A culture of regenerable tissue of a plant produced by a seed of the soybean variety designated as XB37ZA, deposited as ATCC Deposit No.
 97416. 4. A culture according to claim 3, wherein the tissue is selected from the group consisting of leaves, pollen, embryos, meristems, roots, root tips, flowers, beans, pods, and stalks, and cells and protoplasts thereof.
 5. A soybean plant regenerated from a culture of regenerable tissue of a plant produced by a seed of the soybean variety designated as XB37ZA, deposited as ATCC Deposit No. 97416, having all of the physiological and morphological characteristics of soybean variety XB37ZA.
 6. A culture of regenerable tissue of a soybean plant, said soybean plant having all of the physiological and morphological characteristics of soybean variety XB37ZA, wherein said soybean plant is regenerated from a culture of regenerable tissue of a plant produced by a seed of the soybean variety designated as XB37ZA, deposited as ATCC Deposit No.
 97416. 